Within Elvis Presley’s inner circle – famously known as the Memphis Mafia – loyalty was everything. Friends were expected to follow his lead without hesitation. So when longtime confidant Jerry Schilling dared to stand up to him during a tense ski trip, the star’s reaction was shockingly extreme – and nearly ended their friendship for good.
The explosive incident took place in the midst of a chaotic holiday. Elvis, known for his impulsive nature, had decided to extend the group’s vacation at the last minute. Schilling scrambled to find alternative accommodation with little notice and managed to get everyone settled. But just as he finally got some rest, Elvis called – at 3am – with yet another sudden request: he wanted to switch houses.
Schilling, exhausted, protested. In Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick, Schilling recalled how he tried to reason with his friend: “I said, ‘Jesus, I’ve been working to find a place for three days straight. I need to get some sleep’.”
Elvis, visibly wired and accompanied by bodyguards Billy and Red, didn’t take it well. “You do?” he snapped, before storming out of the room.
But what happened next revealed just how volatile things could get behind closed doors. Outside, venting his frustration to bodyguard Red West, Elvis pulled out a gun and said: “I’ll kill the son of a b****.”
Although the threat wasn’t made directly to Schilling, the message was clear – and a turning point for Schilling. Despite Elvis calming down when they spoke again, the damage was done.
“I said, ‘You know what, Elvis? I don’t want to stay here. In fact, I’m leaving’,” Schilling recalled. It wasn’t an easy decision. Elvis had been a huge part of his life and career. But the environment around Presley had grown increasingly toxic – a tightly controlled bubble where everything revolved around the star, and personal boundaries were often blurred.
“He had done more for me than anybody else in my life,” Schilling admitted. “But it was time.”
It wasn’t the first time Elvis had lashed out at him, either. Years earlier at Graceland, Elvis exploded after finding Schilling and Priscilla Presley deep in conversation late one night. Despite their closeness in age and friendship, Elvis didn’t approve.
“‘Cilla, you don’t need to be roaming around here late at night’,” Priscilla later wrote in Elvis and Me. Then Elvis turned on Schilling: “‘If you want to keep this job, son, you mind your own business. If there’s anyone who’s going to ask her how she feels, it’ll be me’.”
From that moment on, Schilling and Priscilla began keeping their distance – another sign of how tightly Elvis controlled his world and the people in it.
Despite everything, Jerry Schilling remained loyal to Elvis until the end, eventually returning to his orbit.